The KTM rider stopped the clock at 1:37.638, with the leader Masiá signing the sixth fastest time
The Spanish David Muñoz (KTM) led the Japanese Ayumu Sasaki (Husqvarna) in the first round of free practice of the Australian Moto3 Grand Prix that took place at the Phillip Island circuit. Muñoz lapped in 1:37.638, two and a half tenths of a second faster than Ayumu Sasaki, while the world championship leader, the Spanish Jaume Masiá (Honda), had to settle for sixth position.
And it didn’t take Masiá too long to show his teeth with a time of 1:38.851 with which he placed first, with just over a tenth of a second ahead of the local Joel Kelso (CFMoto) and the Italian Stefano Nepa ( KTM) and although he later improved to achieve a 1:38.152, he could not prevent a quintet of rivals from overtaking him. Italian Matteo Bertelle (KTM) was not so lucky, as he crashed at the first change and lost precious time repairing his bike in the workshop, which initially relegated him to the last positions in the time table. The same ending had the British Scott Ogden, who was barely able to complete four complete laps before crashing and leaving his motorcycle seriously damaged.
In the last section of the session the most important changes began to occur with Jaume Masiá giving ground to pilots such as David Muñoz (KTM), the Japanese Ayumu Sasaki (Husqvarna), the also Spanish Adrián Fernández (Honda) or the Brazilian Diogo Moreira (KTM), brilliant winner in Indonesia. Masiá could not go beyond sixth position in this first roundjust ahead of the Australian Joel Kelso, the Japanese Ryusei Yamanaka (Gas Gas) and the Spaniards Daniel Holgado (KTM) and José Antonio Rueda (KTM).
The Turkish Deniz Öncü (KTM) finished in eleventh position, with the Dutch Collin Veijer (Husqvarna), behind him, and the Spanish Vicente Pérez (KTM), who replaced the injured Ana Carrasco, Iván Ortola (KTM), David Salvador (KTM) and Xavier Artigas (CFMoto), out of second classification direct on a provisional basis. The Colombian of Spanish origin David Alonso (Gas Gas) could not solve the technical problems he had during the session and had to settle for a worrying twenty-fifth starting position.